What happens to Dike? - Band of Brothers (2001) Discussion

[–] nickm2 8 years ago

I'm pretty sure he got 'booted upstairs' back to the Division HQ;

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

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[–] GirlwonderReturns 8 years ago

After the debacle in Foy and being replaced by Speirs, Dike was reassigned to Regimental HQ and became an assistant operations officer, then was promoted to Captain and served as an aide to General Taylor. He also served in Korea, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, believe it or not. He retired from the military in 1957 and moved to Switzerland in 1959, where he opened a law practice. He lived the rest of his life there, and died in 1989 at age 71.

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

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[–] sss_bbb999 8 years ago

Cool story... thanks for sharing.

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[–] GirlwonderReturns 8 years ago

No problem. I was surprised he ended up at such a high rank, but having read further, it appears the series may have been at least somewhat unfair to him. Dike actually earned 2 Bronze Stars - one of them in Bastogne, when apparently he "personally removed from an exposed position, in full enemy view, three wounded members of his company, while under intense small arms fire". On top of that, it seems Clancy Lyall stated that Dike was wounded in the shoulder during the attack on Foy and that THAT was why he stopped, not because of panic. This conflicts with Carwood Lipton's recollection that Dike had "fallen apart." Dick Winters himself also described Dike as having a "military bearing." All of this strikes me as very interesting. Perhaps someone else on this board with more thorough knowledge of Easy can shed some light on who the true Norman Dike was.

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

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[–] murph24 8 years ago

Dike actually earned 2 Bronze Stars - one of them in Bastogne, when apparently he "personally removed from an exposed position, in full enemy view, three wounded members of his company, while under intense small arms fire"

I recently read about this, and it threw me for a loop - especially when I saw the date of the actions he'd been honored for: January 3, 1945. Now, this was a very eventful day in Easy Company history; Don Hoobler accidentally shot and killed himself in the predawn hours, and later in the day the Germans unleashed the artillery barrages that injured Toye and Guarnere so horrifically. It was after these barrages ended that Dike informed Lipton he was going to headquarters for "help" and didn't return until the following day. So I can only assume Dike performed his heroic deed after he'd left the company, because none of the books by Easy Company's veterans makes any mention of it. It's a little baffling.

There's no question Clancy Lyall stated Dike had been wounded, and (according to him) this is what brought the assault on Foy to a halt - not a bout of panic. But this doesn't explain why Dike didn't answer Winters' call on the radio (he'd reportedly been shot in the shoulder, not the vocal chords), nor does it explain why he didn't delegate responsibility for continuing the assault to another officer or, failing that, an NCO. It should also be noted that it wasn't just Lipton who said Dike had frozen up; Babe Heffron said the same thing in "Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends." And though Heffron said he was right next to Dike when Speirs relieved him, he mentions nothing about Dike being wounded. So once again, it's a little baffling.

Lyle has certainly attempted to make a case for Dike by reporting on his injury, but he paints a different picture when he states Dike "wasn't around very much," then adds "anytime he was around, it was awful."

As for Winters, his exact words about Dike were that he was "very well spoken" but had a "military bearing that was deceiving."

But like you, I'd love to get more specific information about the actions in Bastogne that earned him a Bronze Star.

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[–] b-rad 8 years ago

Remember--while this series was inspired by a historical work, it is a dramatization, not a documentary. We have to take care to remember that.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

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[–] Colorado_Kid (214) 4 years ago

I know this thread is old but we should remember there are two sides two every story and that old men are telling stories of events that had happened years before and may not remember them exactly the way they happened.

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2111) 3 years ago

True, we humans have a way of altering memories and being 100% certain the memory is accurate.

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